Effect of Nb on Microstructure Evolution of Coarse-Grained Heat-Affected Zone with Large Heat Input Welding

The effect of Nb microalloying on microstructure transformation of coarse-grained heat-affected zone of high strength low alloy steels were investigated utilizing different heat input welding simulation. For the low-Nb steel, the microstructures of coarse-grained heat-affected zone mainly consisted of acicular ferrite, bainite and grain boundary ferrite for small heat input welding; the amount of acicular ferrite decreased whereas grain boundary ferrite, polygonal ferrite and pearlite increased with increasing heat input. In constrast, for the high-Nb steel, granular bainite was the dominant microstructure. The formation of granular bainitic microstructure was associated with the solid solution of Nb, which suppressed ferrite transformation and promoted the formation of granular bainite. The hardness of coarse-grained heat-affected zone increased with increasing Nb content, and decreased with decreasing heat input, which was attributed to the microstructural change.